


The Flower Thief

by iloveitblue



Series: Prompts [274]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, Mentions of Drunk Driving, off screen character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-29
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-11 22:10:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4454240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iloveitblue/pseuds/iloveitblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where someone keeps stealing flowers from Phil's yard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Flower Thief

There’s a thief on the loose, and Phil is stopping at nothing until the thief is caught. 

Okay, so maybe that’s a little over dramatic for a flower thief but Phil worked hard to get those flowers to bloom and he is not just going to stand by as some asshole picks apart Phil’s yard for someone who’s probably way out of their league. 

Phil has a lot of feelings for his flowers.

Nonetheless, he’s going to catch whoever is stealing from his yard and ask them to politely quit it, and fuck off. That’s why Phil is standing by his window like a creeper; to catch the thief. And he knows that the thief is going to be there today because the thief only steals every Saturday.

So all Phil has to do was wait. 

So far, the only ones that stopped by his yard was an elderly couple. A teenager taking a selfie in front of his house (probably with Phil in the background). A dog that started sniffing anything and everything in Phil’s yard. Two girl scouts selling cookies (Phil got four boxes, because why not). And no thief.

Maybe the thief knew that Phil was watching today. 

Just when Phil was about to give up and call it a day, (He’d been standing on the same spot on and off for 6 hours) Phil saw a man walk purposely toward his yard. The man was wearing clothes that seemed appropriate for a date night, and was walking around Phil’s yard like he was choosing flowers in a damn flower shop. 

The man settled in front of the daffodils and crouched down with his back to Phil’s house. Phil huffed and walked out of his house to confront the stranger.

“I think picking flowers from a stranger’s home can be qualified as stealing.” Phil announced his presence. He got a strange satisfaction at the way the man flinched before getting up to face Phil.

Phil’s first thought upon seeing the man up close was ‘ _Oh no, he’s hot’_  before he remembered that this guy stole his flowers probably to give them to some big-boobed blonde skank to get him laid.

“Oh, sorry- I was just-”

“Too cheap to buy your own flowers?” Phil offered with a shrug. 

The guy chuckled,  _chuckled!_  “Not exactly. See, Natasha told me that the reason why men started giving flowers to women was because it was a way to show affection. To show that the man took time from his day to actually go to a field and pick flowers for the woman they loved. I thought she’d prefer if I did the same. And since your yard is the closest thing I could get to a field, well...”

Phil sighed. “So you’re a romantic. Great.” He rolled his eyes at the man.

“I could pay you. I mean, I should probably apologize first. Since I did, technically, steal from you, but I could totally pay you. For the flowers I picked now, and the others from before.”

“No, It’s- It’s okay. Just please don’t do it again. I worked hard growing these flowers.” Phil told him.

“And they came out very beautifully.” 

“Damn right, they did.” Phil sighed. “You can finish picking flowers today,” The man was probably about to thank Phil when he raised his finger, “but you have to take me to her.”

“Her?”

“The girl you’re giving the flowers to. I have to at least see if she’s pretty enough for my flowers.” Phil crossed his arms over his chest with a huff.

The guy smiled at Phil, “Thank you.” He said softly before picking flowers again. 

Phil watched as the guy quietly sorted through the daffodils, picking out the best ones and bunching them together with a rubber band. He turned to Phil with a smile and a nod. “She’s this way.” 

The man, Clint, Phil later learned, didn’t have a car and was walking towards where Natasha was.  _It’s not really that far_ , Clint reassured him. Through the whole walk, they involved themselves in mindless chitchat. Phil learned that Clint was an archery instructor and Clint learned that Phil was a history professor. They both prefer In N Out over Burger King, and animal fries are gifts from the gods. 

Phil faltered mid stride when he figured out where Clint had taken him. Clint only looked back long enough to smile at Phil and jerk his head. “She’s this way.” 

Phil followed wordlessly as Clint led the way to Natasha. They stop a few ways down at a grave with a picture frame facing down. The flowers from last week had been taken away and all that remained were a few dried petals. Clint picked up the picture frame and handed it to Phil. 

“This is Natasha.” Clint introduced.

Phil stared at a woman, no younger than Clint, with flaming red hair and beautiful eyes. She looked kind, and graceful, and the way her smile lit her whole face up told Phil that she was a good person. 

“She’s beautiful.” Phil told Clint as the man got up from setting up the flowers. 

“She is. Hell of a woman, that one. You know she kicked my ass all the way to Timbuktu the first time we met. She said she didn’t like the way I was looking at her.” 

Phil smiled despite himself. “You were probably looking at her wrong then.” 

Clint laughed. “Yeah, right. I was staring at the burrito she had in her hand. I hadn’t eaten for three days. The next thing I knew I was lying face down on the pavement begging for her not to break my arm off.” 

“She seemed wonderful.” Phil handed back the picture frame and Clint bent down again to place the frame next to the flowers.

“She was.” Clint nodded.

“If- If you don’t mind my asking-” Phil broke his question off.

“Car accident.” Clint answered the unasked question. “Some drunk asshole trying to impress his equally drunk asshole friends. Hit and run.” 

"I’m so sorry.” Phil said, placing a consoling hand on Clint’s shoulder.

“It’s not your fault.” Clint told him with a sad smile.

They remained silent for a while until Phil broke the silence. “Look, what if I tell you I’m allowing you to take flowers from my garden if it’s for her?”

“Then I’ll have to ask, what’s in it for you?” Clint asked him skeptically.

Phil shrugged. “All I ask is that every once in a while, whenever you feel like it, you take me with you. Tell me about her. She seemed like a genuinely interesting person, and I’d love to listen to any story you might share with me about her. Deal?” Phil extended his hand, waiting for Clint to take it.

Clint’s smirk grew into a full fledged smile before he took Phil’s hand and shook it. “Deal.”

**Author's Note:**

> [Here on tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/125355938201/i-made-cheesecake-and-bmo-shoes-and-started-on)
> 
> #you know I can sort of see Ghost!Natasha shipping them quietly#or not so quietly#She watches as the two men talk about her in front of her grave#and Clint hasn't looked so happy before#he's talking about Natasha to Phil and he's practically glowing#and Phil seems genuinely interested in his dumb stories and their dumb adventures#and they even start bringing food to the cemetery#they leave a small plate out for Natasha with whatever food they brought#and they continue to talk#Natasha ships it so hard#she might be dead#but shes going down with this ship


End file.
